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Globe study shows policymakers accelerated movement of How men in power let Mattapan area be victimized
The Mattapan crisis didn't just
happen. Men of power, by decision,
indecision and silence, let it happen.
It's not that anyone wanted to
push the policy buttons that brought
swift social change to an unprepared
neighborhood.
In f<-ct, all the bankers, educators
and public officials were intent on
other objectives.
But a study by The Boston
Globe's urban team showed that policymakers played a decisive role in
accelerating the movement of the
slums along Blue Hill avenue toward
Mattapan square. They set the stage
for the wholesale blockbusting patterns and real estate profiteering
that made Mattapan a national
symbol of the victimized neighborhood.
The study also showed that the
policies remain?d in effect despite
clear and persistent warnings about
their impact not only on the established Jewish neighborhood of Mat-
t;:pan-Dorchester but on the blacks
the policies were designed to help.
All that those warnings generated
was an awesome silence in which the
policies persisted.
Blacks in effect were tunneled
out of housing-desperate Ro.xbury —
not into new neighborhoods of their
choice — but into one neighborhood
- Mattapan-Dorchestei.
They moved into a I ousing vacuum engineered through panic. Racial
tensions rose. Community bonds
loosened. A long-cntrcnched Jewish
community, that many believed
would have been receptive to integration, began melting away.
Now, the panic is past and Malta-
pan is fighting to regain its equilibrium and hold at bay the blight that
crept to its di
The dramatic struggle for stabilization now taking place in Mattapan
was made necessary only aft
crucial policies were allowed free
reign in the neighborhood.
The policies ware
— The decision by a consortium
of Boston savings banks (BBURG for
tiic Boston Banks Urban Renewal
I Group) to provide special mortgage
money for low income black families
only within a specified geographic
. i ca.
This so-called BBURG line,
which the bankers say was arbitrarily picked, pointed like an arrow into
Ihe heart of Mattapan.
— The decision of Boston school
officials to cling to open enrollment
at the Solomon Lewenberg Junior
High School, a keystone of community coherence in Mattapan.
The school's reputation for excellence made i: a natural magnet for
black families seeking better education for their child]
But Boston school officials pursued open enrollment at Ihe Lewenberg without also pursuing a racial
balance plan
Lewenberg, thual'fcecame incre
ly black in advance of the dramatic
change in the neighborhood's racial
composi
Frustration over the inconsistency between open enrollment and racial balance policies prompted the
complaint to the' US government
about segregation in the Boston public schools.
Trie complaint could ever.
cost the city millions of dollars a
year in Federal education funds.
The failure to respond with dispatch to what was happening in Mat-
tapan-Dorchester was not confined
to the banks and the school system:
The study also showed:
— That Federal housing authorities went full speed ahead in guaranteeing mortgages while oblivious to
widespread profiteering and blockbusting in the neighborhood. *
— That the Boston Redevelop-,
ment Authority, despite sharp pro-1
test about the BBVVFline from it
relocation chief,
tinued to rely on
relocation source. ^^^^^^^^
— That police to this day have
failed to convince residents that they
adequately patrol the neighborhood
despite a, 15 percent increase in police manpower.
— That the Jewish community of
Greater Boston failed to speak out
against the BBURG line and ignorea
those urging such a stand.
— That the black community ac.
cepted the BBURG line without insisting on maximum freedom off
choice in any housing plan designed
for its advantage. ^^^^^^^^^
No one, back in 1968, wanted toj
kill the dream of a thriving, inteJ
grated neighborhood in Mattapan*
Dorchester. Some believed it was the
one area where interracial harmony'
might reign, where with luck the
ghetto might give way to the melting
pot.
For Boston it was a rare opportunity.
The need for action following the
murder of the Rev. Martin Luther
King was evident. The FHA, only the
year before, had abandoned its policy
against mortgage guarantees in the
inner city. The bankers were
to move. Housing needs in the black
community were severe. Community
cooperation was assured.
But what direction should any
action take? Should it be toward an
open society in which black families
could freely choose where to live or
toward further expansion of the
ghetto?
The choice made is now evident.
"Given the opportunity to relieve
tensions," said Sen. Philip A. Hart,
(D-Mich.) who conducted hearings
on the Mattapan situation in Boston
last September, "Boston finds itself
with a reinforcement of the two societies — one black and one white."
Blacks are now fighting to keep
the blight, the lackluster city services, the crime, things they thought
they left behind — from following
them into tneir new neighborhood.
They feel that not only is the value
of their new home threatened, but ao
is their hope for a better lite for their
families.
Whites were left with their own
consciences, their own fears of ethnic
isolation, fears that
with their relentless pr
had created near panic
remained in their homes.
According to the 1960 Census, the
Wellington Hill area of Mattapan
had 9204 residents, only 10 of then-
black. Ten years later, in 1970, Wellington Hill, which was Jewish
tapan, was half white and half black.
Now it is predominantly black.
By 1965, the Solomon Lewenberg
Junior High School was 20 percent
black and being cited as a proud example of integration at work. Black
families were moving into the neighborhood without incident.
OV££

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Transcript

Globe study shows policymakers accelerated movement of How men in power let Mattapan area be victimized
The Mattapan crisis didn't just
happen. Men of power, by decision,
indecision and silence, let it happen.
It's not that anyone wanted to
push the policy buttons that brought
swift social change to an unprepared
neighborhood.
In f